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This one was a slap in the face. Hey, I’m happy that we’re not actually going to give up half of our team for Kevin Garnett. But I wanted it to go down differently. I wanted Danny Ainge to wake up, realize that he was giving away half of his roster (which in itself would be an admission that what he put together in Boston didn’t work), and tell Kevin McHale to go screw. That would have made this little mushroom cloud of a rumor just go away and we could move on. But no, Kevin Garnett had to rip our hearts out, even though we didn’t really want him anyway. His agent Andy Miller said “If a trade [to Boston] were to happen, that's not a destination that we're interested in pursuing.” But what he really said was “Kevin Garnett only has a few years left in his career… he’s not going to waste them in a hopeless situation in Boston.” Ouch. Why don’t you come over and kick my dog while you’re at it. You know, once upon a time a player would demand to be traded to Boston. Now an agent practically risks getting fired for even suggesting it. Everyone goes through a point in life when you realize things just aren’t what they used to be… like the first time someone calls you “sir” or “ma’am”: ‘sir… oh man… I’m old enough to be a sir? Oh S#!%’ That’s when you know to just go buy the minivan and the Rogaine. And when players like Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion tell your city “hey… no offense… but your team is too crappy for me”… that’s when you know there’s a little too much dust on the banners. This isn’t a rant about how Danny has taken way too long to get a competitive team on the floor… although it could be. If there is a rant, it’s that NBA players have too much say in where they go. I might be mistaken here… but you get paid about 20 million dollars a year there, Kevin. Trades come with the territory of being a max-contract guy. Being a max-guy means it’s on you to help the team win. When that team doesn’t do it, then you’re going to show up in trade rumors (see: Pierce, Paul). It happens. Is Minnesota’s level of sucking KG’s fault? No, it’s mostly Kevin McHale’s. Is Boston’s situation Paul’s fault? Nope… it’s mostly Danny’s. But trades are a part of life. It’s a downfall to being un-Godly rich. On the one hand, you make 20 million bucks a year. On the other, you risk being traded to a crappy team in a cold city. You don't get to say “trade me to Phoenix because they’re good and it’s warm there.” You’re rich. Buy a coat and turn up the heat. You can afford to heat your home by buying other peoples houses and chopping them up for firewood. But this isn’t even intended to be a rant. This is intended to be that look in the mirror. It’s one thing to walk around and say “we suck.” It’s another to hear a great player say “you suck.” When we say it, we say it in a frustrated “we’re Boston, these are the Celtics, why aren’t we winning 60 games yet” kind of tone. When they say it, they say it in a “that’s one f’d up situation you got going on over there… I want NOTHING to do with that.” That stings. That’s not what most of us see. What most of us see is promise. We see hope. We see Rajon Rondo as a promising young point guard. We see Al Jefferson as a stud post player. We see gritty, hustle guys like Delonte West, and Ryan Gomes as having the intangibles to be major contributors and great locker room guys. We see Paul Pierce as top 10 guy. We see the Cleveland Cavaliers get to the finals and we look at our team and say “we’re only one piece away from being better than THOSE guys.” So when Kevin Garnett slaps us all in the face with a threat to leave almost as soon as he get here, we have to sit back and wonder which of two scenarios we’re really in. Are we too close to the situation to see what people west of Worcester see: a team in disarray with overrated players and a GM and a coach who are too clueless to pull themselves out of the muck… even in a weak conference… Or are we so close to the situation that we recognize the talent that most people are writing off? If Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion did nothing else, they slapped us back into reality… and now it time to take a close look at where this Celtics team really is.
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A Slap In The Face |
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Remember When Guys WANTED To Be Traded To Boston? |
